Winter is here in full force, and we hardly need to go on about its perils. That is the stuff of headlines and all-too-harsh reality. To provide some respite, we’re bringing you a selection of winter stories.
In “Birnam Wood,” T. Coraghessan Boyle conjures a tale about a couple who spend an intriguing few months house-sitting in upstate New York during the nineteen-seventies. In “The Buck Stops Here,” the director Ethan Coen reflects on a tale about a man who met his end while driving along a rural road on a wintry night. In “Turn Signals,” Louise Erdrich writes about the winter births of three of her four daughters. (“My youngest daughter was born during one of those January thaws when the snow packs low to the earth, exuding a heavy mist that turns a golden peach color under halogen street lamps, and everything is muted in a fog of sunset.”) Finally, in “Ava’s Apartment,” Jonathan Lethem imagines a holiday in an alternate New York where whole apartment buildings have been set aside for the exclusive use of dogs. All of these stories remind us of the charms—and contradictions—of the season. We hope that you enjoy them.
—David Remnick
“Outside, the snow made a noise, a kind of hiss, as if the night had come alive.”
When I heard the story of Uncle Andy, I couldn’t help tracing past its punch line.
My winter babies.
“It turned out that it was possible to wish to become a dog only exactly up to that point where it became completely impossible.”
